News in brief

Road 'devastation' after fatal pile-up in fog

The A19 in County Durham was closed to traffic for more than 24 hours after two fuel tankers and more than 60 other vehicles crashed in thick fog on Friday night, killing one man and leaving a scene of "absolute devastation". Police said that drivers had been going too fast in the conditions.

BBC man in gun drama

BBC chief economics correspondent Hugh Pym was at the centre of a crime story when a gunman in a motorbike helmet and carrying two pistols chased a man into a restaurant in St John's Wood, west London, and shot him. Pym said: "I immediately went to ground and pulled my 15-year-old son under the table." A 31-year-old man was shot in the leg and a 15-year-old boy was also wounded.

To MG collapse report: £16m

An official report into the collapse of MG Rover has been submitted to the government after an investigation lasting more than four years at a cost to the taxpayer of almost £16m.

Dear Francis ...

A letter from Queen Elizabeth I, dated 15 March 1587, giving Sir Francis Drake permission to attack Spanish shipping, has gone on public display for the first time in more than 400 years as part of an exhibition at Plymouth's Guildhall.